Last year when we created the brand and identity system for the guys at Bounce we had no idea it’d be quite this epic… (Watch the clip after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘E3’
Data & the New Digital Age.
By Chris Ongarello on – 19 April 2013
As I continue to get inspiration from Eric Schmidt’s new book, The New Digital Age, Reshaping the future of people, nations and business and the great quote I posted on Facebook “Information, like water, will always find a way through”, it’s time we all made a case for more open data so the information we long for is ready and waiting for us.
The Art of Creating Evocative Spaces
Each June I look forward to clamping my eyes on the work from this year’s Venice Art Biennale. The breadth and quality of work represented guarantees there’s always something inspiring to be seen. This year as I admired the installations I was struck by how the Biennale differs from most exhibitions – and that is by the nature of art created for installation. Art installations take-on an empty, neutral space and create an evocative and meaningful experience for those who enter.
Having worked in the property category, creating brands for apartments, residential developments & larger planned communities for many years, I was struck by the relevance of the Biennale’s work to display execution of property projects. Display suites and larger display centers are first and foremost meant to be spaces that inspire, that move people – spaces that create an emotional response. Yet the universal approach of the industry is so one dimensional – to reflect the interior design of the product, with a brief tip of the hat to local amenity. Having worked on a few, I know all-to-well the consistency of approach – map of community/apartment, house layouts, list of local amenity, location map with local landmarks, photos of happy families/hip young apartment dwellers/empty nesters enjoying their new life style.
What an opportunity there is to take inspiration from the bold, emotive gestures of the Venice Art Biennale and turn your displays into surprising, memorable and striking spaces that move people.
Creating a Great Brand in this Tough Market
In all our years of creating brands, we’ve never come-across a tougher category than not for profit. High on passion with a gazillion competitors battling for the philanthropic dollar, not-for-proft organizations are typically well meaning, but poorly branded. Not-so Movember who have had a clear view of who they are as a brand, and beautifully communicated that to their market of hairy bros and sistas from day one.
Online retailers are getting smarter about the way they sell to us, but are they still blinded by out-dated paradigms?
May 2013
David Ansett & Peter Singline
Recently Amazon launched an online store dedicated to the Over 50 market. For the first time a major global retailer has broken ranks and focused on a specific target market, rather than their product line.
Waterhouse is a name synonymous with horse racing and since the launch of tomwaterhouse.com also with betting. Tom Waterhouse, a fourth generation bookmaker has created a brand based on his family’s association with the industry. He has unashamedly used his family name, his cheesy smile and his relationship to one of horse racing’s biggest names to create the brand and leverage these associations to his advantage. And it has worked. That combined with his multi-million dollar campaign.
Innovative Retail Branding from Topshop UK
Loving this stunning retail brand visual merchandising created for the Topshop’s Regent Street windows by NEON and studioXAG. In this innovative take on the ever-present fashion store staple, the mannequin is re-interpreted, resulting in a vivid wheel that highlights the current product story, whilst allowing the full color palette of the range to be seen in an ever-moving ferris wheel of merchandise.
Simple, graphic, functional and fun – an eye-catching retake in the highly competitive brand arena of High Street.
Our very own Derek Carroll (Truly Deeply Creative Director and tech-guru) was interviewed for a feature on businesses adopting the benefits of cloud technology in a recent feature in The Age newspaper. At Truly Deeply we’ve had our head in the cloud from the early days – but always keeping our feet on the ground (as they say).
Update: Here’s the copy from the online article:
Businesses are looking up
The benefits of cloud technology are manifold, as firms are finding, writes Karla Dondio.
There has been a lot of buzz around cloud technology for some time, with more and more businesses getting on board. With a reputation for revolutionising the internet, exactly how are companies benefiting from its applications?
Cloud technology uses a network of computers to give users fast and ubiquitous access to software and data in real time. This means businesses using cloud applications have the ability to collaborate online with stakeholders at any time.
Derek Carroll, from creative branding agency Truly Deeply, uses cloud applications on a day-to-day basis in his role as creative director. Carroll likes the idea that cloud applications allow you “to pick and choose [the services] you want according to your business model and your clients”.
A quick rundown of some of the cloud services he uses demonstrates their extensive capabilities: Google Business for email, calendaring and contact management; Harvest for time management and estimations; Basecamp for project management; Highrise for new business management; CrashPlan for file back up; Dropbox for file sharing; and Mailchimp for electronic newsletters.
“The key benefit in utilising these solutions is the access and the simplicity. They do what they do very well and they don’t pretend to be everything to everyone.”
Another advantage of using cloud applications is that businesses can manage projects online and therefore provide access to external stakeholders. For example, project-management tools enable clients to log in so they can stay abreast of project milestones, as well as offer feedback.
“They assist us in making the communication with the client easier. You spend less time fretting about getting this to work and you can focus on where the real game is, which is the client relationship.”
For new businesses, the opportunity to work remotely by integrating cloud applications has revolutionised workplace practices.
Michael Raoss, who has worked in the creative industry for more than two decades, is account director at Plural, a boutique design agency. Plural plans to establish a studio space for the business in the near future, however cloud services have enabled Raoss, the designer and the programmer to all work remotely in the interim. Without cloud technology, Raoss insists that it would have been impossible for them to operate. It has also offered a huge cost saving to the business, with low overheads and no infrastructure costs.
“By far the biggest benefit is that most of our data is stored on multiple servers backed up to a cloud device. It also saves a huge amount of money for us as most of the software we lease costs about $100 a month,” he says.
Raoss uses a range of cloud applications in his workday: Harvest, Xero, Trello and Dropbox. He says he can keep track of every aspect of the business in one desktop window.
“My designer and programmer tend to work late hours, so as soon as I start at 8am, I can see where everything is at. It’s instant.”
Raoss doesn’t see any drawbacks to using cloud applications other than getting to know your way around them, which he says isn’t that difficult.
Carroll believes the applications can be limiting if you want more from them than they offer, but he adds that if something is free, businesses tend to put up with a few niggles.
So is cloud technology the way of the future?
“We love it and reap the benefits of it as a business,” Carroll says. “But it’s not going to change the essential fact that what we do as a business is relationships. I still have to do that one-on-one sitting down talking with someone.”
Published: 11 May 2013
Stand-out Retail Brand Design
Sure retail brands are facing a tough stretch, where attracting the attention of new customers and engaging with them sufficiently to turn them into brand loyalists is tougher than squeezing the proverbial blood from a stone. But every now and again we are reminded of the power of thinking big – figuratively if-not literally – of visualizing a brand experience that will stand-out from the crowd, project your brand beyond the ordinary and create the remarkable. And that’s precisely what Airigami did when they created a 200 foot long acrocanthosaurus–a dinosaur from the early cretaceous period re-created from balloons.
Creating Relevant, Cutting Edge Retail Branding Doesn’t Mean Reinventing the Wheel
In 2012 fashion retail brand Burberry launched their remodeled store at 121 Regent St London. But what at first glance looks like a traditional retail re-fit is -on closer inspection – a blueprint for reinventing a brand experience inspiring for retailers across every category.
